Day 6 - Republic to Seattle

Today would be our final day on the road. Awakening early after a good night's rest, we did our t-clocks and headed away from Lake Curlew. It started to sprinkle and the skies looked threatening, but we elected to stay in our mesh gear and Andy donned a jacket.

#33 Okanogan County - Okanagan

We rode WA20 west before turning south at Tonasket on a US97A detour route. Arriving in Okanogan, we found the courthouse which looked sparkling clean. A local gal engaged us in conversation (her husband rides a Wing) and she indicated that if we had been there last week, we wouldn't have been able to position ourselves in front of the courthouse. But we took our pictures and headed for the Caribou restaurant for breakfast.




Yes, breakfast was good and it wasn't McDonalds!




#34 Douglas County - Waterville

We took a cross country route from Okanogan to Waterville (WA17 and some county roads).

We took a brief stop at the Chief Joseph dam.



Arriving in Waterville we grabbed a quick photo, refueled and rehydrated.



#35 Chelan County - Wenatchee

It was a fairly short ride down to Wenatchee; however, there was lots of traffic in the city. All of us were becoming quite comfortable with little to no traffic. Arriving at the Chelan County courthouse we were disappointed that we could not position the motorcycles in front of the building. Here's where Andy exercised his bravado and hopped off his Wing and went in to the courthouse and explained our situation and obtained permission to ride on the sidewalk and take a quick picture. WAY TO GO Andy!!




#36 - Grant County - Ephrata

We quickly got off the sidewalk and headed for Ephrata with a quick stop at Chet's Honda for a mic sock for Angela. After snagging the photo (it's the centennial year for the Grant county courthouse) we took a lunch break at DJ's on the north end of town (another very nice burger joint).




#37 Yakima County - Yakima

We headed south out of Ephrata for I-90. Cresting the Vantage Hill we were greeted by very strong winds that wanted to take off our helmets. We refueled at Kittatas and then headed down I-82 for Yakima where we eventually found the courthouse on Yakima Avenue. We snapped a quick photo.




#38 Kittitas County - Ellensburg

Finally we could smell the end with one more stop before King County. We rode up the Yakima Canyon Road which was also windy but more manageable at 45 mph. We headed for the Kittitas County courthouse and apart from a truck that had the primo parking spot, we bagged our picture. The lettering on this courthouse was of a definite western flavor as this is a rodeo town.




#39 King County - Seattle

We figured we would be able to make the King County Courthouse before dark at the pace we were riding. Heading over Snoqualmie Pass and across the I-90 bridge, we note that our exit at 4th avenue is closed, so we go to plan B and exit at James Street, circle the blocks and pull up in front of the King County Courthouse in a bus zone. I hop off, snap a couple of pictures and then we ride a partial block up to a parking area where we congratulate each other for completing the ride safely.





Reality starts to set in that we've done it! We completed in one long ride a visit to every county seat in Washington state. What's next? Stay tuned. It was a great geography and architectural lesson. Consider doing it. It's around 2,000 miles and there are lots of different ways to accomplish the ride. Like I posted earlier, it's something that politicians should try doing.